The Strange Days Files

If nothing else, staying at home has allowed me to do more things that I've always wanted to try but never found the time before.



Like make my own sourdough bread. This lovely loaf took me 6 days to make, from start to finish. Sarah Fielke - quilter extraordinaire - shared daily videos on her Instagram stories on the sourdough process. If you'd like to make some, just check her stories under the 'sourdough' banner.




And because sourdough takes sooooooo long to prove, I made focaccia yesterday too. We ate it with some vegetable soup for lunch. Perfect.





What else have we done whilst self isolating in the house?

I watched Martha Stewart make a chicken pot pie the other day, so I gathered the ingredients and made some last night for dinner. We don't really eat chicken pot pies her in Australia, mainly hear of them on American TV shows. I was pleased with how they turned out and the whole family loved them, which is always nice.




Here is the Chicken Pot Pie recipe that I used, though I left out the cognac because it's not something I had at home.

Crochet - I think it had been at least a year since I last picked up a crochet hook. I saw a new crochet hashtag on Instagram #EPBlanket and thought I'd start an Easy Peasy Blanket too. 



It's nice to hand sew which watching the telly in the evenings, but there is some concentration required. I find that crochet is so much easier to do while paying attention to something else. My hands just seem to know what to do, even if I'm not looking.

I'm yet to convince my daughter to start a crochet project too, but I'm working on it.

In the garden, hubby is putting together a new greenhouse. The plastic covering on our old one is just falling apart, literally at the seams. He's building some shelving and reusing the plastic to make a purpose-built green house that will fit in the space at the edge of the house much better. I'll keep you posted on that progress.




The winter planting is done and we've now got the usual suspects planted (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli etc). He stopped by my parents house yesterday to drop over some groceries and my dad had just been out in his vege patch and sent hubby home with some borlotti beans to plant. These are heirloom as he's been growing and choosing the best ones for as long as I remember. 

I don't think my hubby has eaten a borlotti bean in his life, but if he can grow them, I will cook them.

What new things have you been doing while staying at home?

Have you learned extra skills, taken up some old crafts or cooked some new dishes?

PS. Don't forget to enter The Rivendale Collection giveaway I posted about yesterday. A winner will be chosen on the weekend.


8 comments

  1. I have been baking more which I need to watch as we are not getting as much exercise as usual. I continue with my quilting, knitting and crochet - I intend to watch a class on how to knit socks but I have only tuned in a short while - I need to get to it but I don't want to many knitting/crochet projects going on and get out of control like my quilting does. I hadn't made sour dough in awhile - I should get a starter going.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes exercise has been a little bit limited around here too, though I did go out for a walk around the neighbourhood early this morning with hubby. It’s not as much fun as when I could drive somewhere pretty to walk and look at the view, but this will do for now. I enjoy looking at everyone’s gardens - seems everyone has a lot more time to tend to their gardens right now.

      I’d love to learn how to knit socks too. I should add that to my viewing list.
      Have a fab rest of the day :)

      Delete
  2. You are so great in the kitchen.... it looks so good. its nice it's cooling down in the evenings for some crochet....
    Hugz

    ReplyDelete
  3. Strange day files is not so strange. Crocheting is very relaxing. I used to make bread when my children were young but I don't eat bread these days. I can smell the beautiful aroma of your focaccia from here. Well done with being very productive. There is always something to do around the house.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Making family favorite soups and salads. Taking time to take care of fragile neighbors and working in the garden. Love your bread!

    ReplyDelete
  5. those seeds are cool, are they beans that you grow?
    I saw a customer at Lidl loading two boxes of ready to build green houses into his car. I thought that was cool. I am excited to see your green house. I am sure your hubby will make a wonderful one.
    last year... and the year before I planted zinnias, cosmos etc seeds all over, the bunnies at most of the plants, last year I asked hubbs to get me some "chicken wire" and I build a cute cage on the side of the house. It worked very well. I had another cage on my hill garden but I included my antique rose bush and wow, that was dumb.
    I still have the cage on the side of the house. I will toss some seeds in there... and I just need to make a better location for the hill garden cage.
    I do not have much time for gardening these days because I am taking care of daddy, but now that we are on quarentine, I am just visiting him one or two days a week. The entire campus of his place is on lock down pretty much. So that is a good thing in a way. I cannot see my grand babies though.... but we have video chat.
    Okay, I love your baking. I need to entirely empty out my cook book cabinet, this is a good time for a clean out. I want to make a cheese cake (a light recipe using half cottage cheese that is pureed) and I want to make cinnamon rolls.... but I have a stronger leaning toward cleaning out cabinets.
    I also like the absent minded knitting, that is excellent. I do not like knitting. I tried it and oh gosh, I am the worst knitter ever. So, instead I spend the movie time in the PM treadmilling and after that, quilting little quilts. Our family room has the treadmill, the tv, and I moved my mother in laws exquisite walnut dining table that is expandable and plopped the mechanical White machine in there.
    This is a very long comment. Yes, this is a strange time, but we can do epic stuff to make memories. I am so happy I can read your blog. We are such lucky humans

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh your breads look amazing!! and your pot pies - Oh man!! THey would be fought over by my boys!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I haven't made focaccia for ages, thank you for the prompt!!
    I love the look of that crochet...must investigate. Stay safe and contented, Anorina. xx

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment. I truly appreciate the time you've taken to leave me a message. I will attempt to answer comments via email.